IT DIDN’T MATTER WHAT THEARCHITECTURAL STYLEWAS, WE WERE HOOKEDON THE LOT”“

home speaks a decidedly Bauhaus inspired language.A two-story, half-round staircase in glass block, largeexpanses of windows and exterior metal Venetian-typeblinds recessed into valances, placed this Keck housesquarely at the forefront of innovation. But avant-garde was not what the new owners, with two children,had in mind when they set out to find a dwelling thatwould take them from their North Side condo to amore bucolic setting outside the city. “We had neverheard of the Kecks and we weren’t looking for modern,”says the male counterpart of this husband-wife team.“Our broker took us out here and among all thesetraditional homes on tree-lined streets was this bizarrestucco house. She walked us to the backyard and it wasunbelievable … It didn’t matter what the architecturalstyle was, we were hooked on the lot.”Nonetheless, the subsequent walk-through of theKeck house unfolded one surprise after another: theimpressive gallery space, the spiral staircase, the wallsof windows that overlooks the yard, all provided plentyof positive material to work with. It also compensatedfor many of its shortcomings, such as the cramped13 by 13 foot rooms on the second story, originallydesigned as the guest rooms and servants’ quarters.“The house is laid out a bit like a steamship, long andmultilevel, with aluminum railings,” notes the husband,who subsequently dug up as much history as he could.Several past owners had left their mark on the home,sometimes in keeping with Keck’s design, other timessorely out of place. So the challenges the new occupantsfaced included not only repairing the botched work ofprior residents, but also adapting the Keck house to lifein the 21st century.